Certain Employers Experiencing Unemployment Tax Rate Increase from the Pandemic Have Opportunity for Chargeback Protest Review

Date: May 26, 2022

Media Contact: Angela Woellner
Phone: 512-463-8556

AUSTIN – On Tuesday, May 24, 2022, Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) approved notifying certain employers of their opportunity to address unemployment insurance account chargebacks incurred during the early stages of the pandemic. Those employers will have the chance to respond to notices of maximum potential chargeback and charges assessed during the period of March 2, 2020, to December 31, 2020.

Unemployment benefit chargebacks are amounts of paid unemployment benefits charged to an employer’s tax account to calculate the employer’s unemployment tax rate. During the early stages of the pandemic, statements were released by TWC indicating employer accounts would not be charged for benefits that were paid due to COVID-19. While most employers had their accounts protected for employees who separated from work post-COVID, the same was not true for employers who had employees separate from work during the two years leading up to March 2020. These non-Last Employing Units (LEU) employers had their accounts charged or protected using the traditional process, without the additional protections associated with the pandemic. A non-LEU is an employer identified as an employer prior to the most recent employer in which a claimant is filing for benefits.

The TWC Unemployment Insurance Division will contact qualifying employers directly about the opportunity to file their protest or appeal. Any employer that receives such a notice should carefully follow the instructions for responding. Determinations will be issued for protests and, where applicable, employers will be given an opportunity for a hearing where timeliness of protest and chargeback to their account would be addressed.

For more information about unemployment claim management and appeals, you can visit the TWC Employer Unemployment Benefit Chargebacks website.

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Texas Workforce Commission is a state agency dedicated to helping Texas employers, workers, and communities prosper economically. For details on TWC and its services in coordination with its network of local workforce development boards, call 512-463-8942 or visit www.texasworkforce.org. Subscribe to email updates to receive notifications about TWC programs and services